Car-coupling.



H. T. KRAKAU.

CAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30, 1011,

1,078,203. Patented Nov. 11, 1913 4 SHBETSSHBBT 1.

WITNESSES INVENTOR H. T. KRAKAU.

CAR COUPLING.

, APPLICATION FILED mime. 1911v Patented N 0v. 11, 1913.

4 SHEET-5 SHEET 2.

H. $3252, x r

WITNESSES H. T. KRAKAU.

GAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED 111111.30, 1911.

Lmaga, Patented Nov. 11, 1913.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

WITNESSES \(YOKUMM 1 W mm,

H. T. KRAKAU.

CAR COUPLING. APPLICATION FILED MA'R. 30. 1011.

1,078,203. Patented Nov. 11, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

wn'usssss W line with the I plan view nan STATES seam nam or CLEVELAND,0310,

A s ams r was mamm MALLEABLE eases-res omma or CLEVELAND, am A QMOBA Q FOHIO.

PatentedNov.11,1913.

L MOUPLIN 1.078.203, Specification of Letters Patent;

Application filed March 30, 1911. Serial No. 618,016.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARnr T. KRAKAU,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident.

of Cleveland, Cuyahogacounty, Ohio, have inve ted a new and usefulImprovement in' Car: on lers, of which the following is a full clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawlngs,forming part of this specification,inwh1ch- Figure l is a top plan viewof two couplers in coupling position, embodying my invention; Fig. 2 isa similar view showlng the, invent-ion applied to another form ofcoupler; Fig. 3 is-a vertical section through the coupling partsillustrating one of the advantages'of my invention; Fig. 4 is a planview showing two- Master Oar Builders couplers in couplingengagement;Fig. 5-is a view similar to Fig.' 3, but taken through the couplingparts of two Master Car'Builders couplers, and illustrating one of thedifiiculties therewith; Fig. 6 is a plan view showin one of my improvedcouplers engaged with a Master Gar Builders coupler; Fig. 7 "s anenlarged plan view showing in detai the proportions, radii, 'etc,, of mynew contour line in its preferred form; Fig. 8 is a plan view showing myimproved contfiur Master Gar Builders center line superposed thereonFig. 9 is a partial showing another form of=my invention embodying oneof its main features and Fig. 10 is a partial planview of ,a modificaton- My invention relates to car couplers, and is designed to provide anew contour wh ch the J anney'type of contour whlch was adopted by theMaster Car Builders Associat-ion. v

'I have determined as the result of investigations and tests that whentwo couplers withthe ordinary Master Car Builders" contour Tarecoupledto ther, if one car makes avlertioal angle wit another, as inascending a grade, as shown in Fig. 3, or ifthe cars pass over a hump,the knuckles will bear against each other with tremendous pressureandare either distorted or will distort or break the lugs of the couplers,if the vertical angle exceeds a slight amount.

When two Master Car Builders couplers are coupled together the knuckleof one coupler has very little clearance within the contour ,of theopposite coupler, that is, between overcome certain diiiiculties presentdiflicult-y will be better understood by refer-' ence to Figs. 4 and 5.Fig. 4 shows two Master Car Builders couplers angled with each other ina horizontal plane; and Fig. 5 shows a horizontal section through two ofthe couplers which are angled with each Fig. 5 it will be seen that theknuckles a and b take a solidbearing a ainst each other at othervertically but not horizontally. From the pulling face of the knuckleand the bufi;

the bottom and against t 1e butting faces 0 of the couplers at the top.If this angle is exceeded, which may occur very often in pracyield orthe car attachments must suffer.

tice, either one coupler or the other most The difficulty is, of course,increased when thevcars are passing around a sharp curve (as indicatedin Fig. i), in which case the coupler knuckles are more tightlyinterlocked than they would be normally, and their condition withrespect to vertical movement is still more restricted.

One object of my invention is to increase the allowable vertical anglingof the couplers by providing largely increased clearance for the knucklewithin the contour of an interlocked coupler, without destroyinginterchangeability, that is, the capacity for coupling with an ordinaryMaster Car Builders coupler. It is further designed in' addition toincreasing the allowable vertical angling, to preserve substantially thesame amount of angling in a horizontal plane as the coupler heads oftw'o'opposing k e and a and 5 the respective'knuc s in couis nowafforded by two couplers of the Masplane type, and in which 2 and 3designate couplers j pling engagement. In accordance with my 119 space8, That is to say,

thethicli'ness of the nose only when faces 9 of the knuckles.

plied to two couplers, with side wings or flanges 10, a correspondingclearance space 10 6 and 7 also-being at substantially right angles .tothe longitudinal axis of the coupler shanks and bein separated from eachother by a clearance the space between the inner coupling face 9 of eachknuckle andthe opposite bufling face 7 of its coupler' head is madeconsiderably wider than of the knuckle, the clearance being sufficientto permit unrestrained vertical angling with an interlocked coupler.This-clearance space will, of'c'ourse, exist between the faces 6 and 7the couplers are pulling. In bufling, it will occur between the pullingWhen two coupiers of this kind are coupled together, the faces oftheknuckles will have a broad bearing against the couplers, which reducesto a minimum the liability of strains to which the fracture due tocouplers are subjected I when bufling.

In Fig. 2, I have shown my invention apwhich are provided being alsoprovided between'the opposing faces of these wings or flanges. Thebutting bearings presented .by the faces of these buifing wingso'r'fianges compared with M aster Car Builders contour .understogd bythose also further reduce the liability of fracture.

One of-the advantages of my invention as the ordinary Master CarBuilders contour will be apparent by a comparison of Figs. 3 and .5,Fig. 3 showing clearly the much greater vertical angling which ispern'litted before the knuckles take solid bearing against each other atthe bot tom, and a solid hearing against the buffing As will be apparentfrom a careful comparison of F i gs. l, i and 6, the amount ofhorizontal angling allowed by my new line is substantial y the sameasthat allowed by the line, whether both or either coupler is equippedwith my new line. i

In Fig. 7 I show in detail the preferred form of contour in accordancewith my invention, in which the line w 1 is the longitudinal center lineof the coupler, which passes through the pulling face of the knuckle atThe various dimensions, radii, etc., inscribed upon this figure will bereadily skilled in the art, and the maijli dilference between my contourI i thc Master Car Builders"contou r line, as, o the in er-ease invertical angling, is as follows: Fgom thepoint a, Fig. 8, to the point asa ine figure, the Master Car Builders line isfihe are of a circleof'l-fg inch radiusg In org er to obtain the desired clearancef'i 1'vertical angling, I make this'portion substantially parallel to face 7of the interlocked which it is struck.

of my contour line of two separate arcs a a :and w"a -which preferablyhave equal radii g and h, but are struck from different centers, namely,0 and d (Fig. 7). Each of these arcs, therefore, with a radius of 1ginches, but the centers are spaced apart a certain distance on a lineparallel to but spaced apart from the longitudinal axis, which distancein the present case is of an inch; that is, the centers of these arcsare of an inch apart measured on a line parallel to the longitudinalaxis of the couplers. The are a a is longer than the arc (Z"--d and thecombined lengths of these arcs are greater than the length of thecorresponding single arc (if-a (Fig. 8) in the Master Car Builders line.Furthermore, the inner arc a.a ends at a which is spaced apart from thelongitudinal center line the same distance as is the center d on Thesetwo arcs are shown as connected by a straight line aa, though this linemay be curved. If this line a -a is struck on cave side is toward thelongitudinal center line, w-y,

is, on the other side of this longitudinal center line from the are. Inother words, this connecting are, if concave toward the longitudinalcenter line, should not be more concave than the arc of a circle struckfrom a center beyond the longitudinal center line. In Fig. 10 I showsuch construction in which the connect-in line a 5 is concave toward thelongitudinal center line, being struck from the center beyond thel0ngitudinal center line. The main feature as to this part of'theinvention lies in spreading the center of these arcs apart andconnecting the arcs preferably by a straight line tangent to both. In mypreferred contour line the second arc aa (Fig. 7) merges directly into astraight line aa' at right angles to the longitudinal axis of thecoupler shank, instead of into a diagonal line, as in the Master CarBuilders type shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8.

In my preferred form Where the boiling face is at right angles to thelongitudinal axis, the arc (L -a is struck from a center on a radius of2 inches, the point lc-being on the transverse construction line;whereas, in the Master Car Builders contour, shown in Fig. 8, this areis 21 inchcs radius, and is' struck on a center of an inch below theconstruction line. Furthermore, in my preferred construction, thedistance from the longitudinal center line to the face of the coupler atthe pin side is 6f,- inches, where the corresponding distance in theMaster Car Builders contourv is 5%. an increased amount of tion of thecoupler, the side face along the part 722. being farther distant fromthe lonis preferably struck the center of the curve should be beyond thelongitudinal center line. jthat inches. This gives metal in this por acurve, Whose congitudinal center line than in the Master CarBuiiderscontour of Fig. 8. The part from g to r made up ot'two joinedarcs in the old 't'orni, where in my contour line it conof two recs 0 pand s m joined by a tangent, from p to s. The are 0 p in my constructionis struck on a two-inch radius; wi ile the part 5 m is shown as struckon two radii of inch s and 6 inches respectively.

it will be noted that the contour of the pulling face of the knuckle ismade up of the arcs a" a a, which are symand a metrical revcrsc curves,each being an arc struck on a radius of 11 inches. This is the formpreferred and gives the proper interlitting of the knuckles underpulling strain.

There would be, of course, some variathat allowed from my contour lines,in the manutactiin'e of castings, just as there is from the Master CarBuilders lines that is, these lines do not need to be exactly followedas there is an allowable variation on each side of the mean contourline.

in lfig. 9 I have shown my invention without, the use of the buttingfaces at right; angles to the longitudinal axis of the coupler shank. Inthis torm, the vertical angling is allowed for by the extra clearanceprovided, this again being obtained by spreading apart the centers 0 llof the arcs at the inner concave portion of the knuckle receivingrecess. in this case. however, the old diagonal line forming the bufiinface 6 of the coupler of the Master Car l iuilders one s retained, butis, of course, moved back in accordance with the spreading apart of thecenters of the arcs, to give the desired clearance. In other words,inthe form of my intention shown In Fig. 9, one ad\'an-.

tage of my invention is obtained in providing for the required amount ofvertical angling, without; obtaining the advantage of the parallel orright-angled buffing face.

Various other changes may be made within the scope of my invention.

I claim:

A car coupler of the vertical plane type having the butting face of itshead and the buffing face of its knuckle substantially parallel witheach other and substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis otthe coupler shank, the butting face of the head being at a distance fromthe pulling face of its knuckle suthcient to permit an interlockedcoupler to angle vertically therewith the contour line connecting thebutting face of its; head and pulling face of its knuckle.

